Numan Race Against Time

Mike Paradinas’ ability to detect freak movements below the surface of the British music scene is more highly developed than the sense of smell of the drug hounds at airports. It’s not about discovering one impressive talent per year anymore –the amount of hidden small geniuses he brings out of anonymity has been growing over the years to an unsuspected volume. How many artists has Planet Mu signed this year alone already? Many of us have lost count –DJ Nate and the juke crew, Swindle, Optimum, Tropics and Solar Bears are the first that come to mind, but there’s more–, and that’s a good thing: the feeling of being lost in a joyful abundance is more intense like this. Numan has nothing to do with Gary, the silicon man of early synth-pop: it’s his real name (Khan is his family name), he lives in Manchester and he’s one of the young upcoming talents who are reforming the dubstep pattern with extravagant textures and new rhythms. “Voodoo” even has a juke deviation –the constant acceleration and slowing-down of an electro break– with a (ahem) cingaro violin sample over it and some low tones beneath it that cause ulcers. It’s a great example of how this youngster goes his own way, which at times is extremely weird (tango versus dubstep on “Race Against Time”, with accordion included). And although on “Photograph” he adapts to a paused and less spasmodic cadence of a disco beat, it’s only an illusion: “XX” recreates the beginnings of grime with Nintendo game melodies, and makes it abundantly clear that if Numan keeps releasing 12”s and gets to put out an album one day, he’s on his way to becoming the weirdest creature in the Planet Mu zoo.